Apparatus for embossing



Feb. 28, 1928.

. H. J. TOEPFERT ET AL APPARATUS FOR EMBOSSING Filed Jan. 1 1926ATTORNEYS.

R m E V Patented Feb. 28,-l928.

ATENT OFFICE.

HENRY J. TOEPFERT AND GEORGE M. PRENTICE, HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, AS- iSIGNORSTO WHITE & WIYCKOFEF' MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OFMASSACHUSETTS.

arrana'rus son r mnossrne. I

Application filed January 15, 1926 Serial No. 81,541. i

This invention relates to improvements in methods-and apparatus forinlaying or embossing goldand silver ornamental designs on sheets or thelike. 11

It is common practice in the artto ornament book covers, sheets orthelike by'embossing or inlaying adesign in gold or silver leaf thereon andit is usual practice to accomplish this by inserting the same with foilsuperposed thereon between suitable dies carried in horizontallydisposed bed and platen members of a press. Usually one of the diemembers is heated and the sheet receives the imprint of the designcarried by the dies in gold or silver or some other color, dependingupon thenature of thefoil employed. i

The method of procedure, according to the prior art just described,offers many disadvantages and is objectionable for the several reasonsas follows; Before the sheet and foil' are inserted between; the dies,it is of course necessary to lay onto the sheet a piece of foil at theplace where the design is to be embossed which is an operationentailingconsiderable labor andithearea of the foil used is considerably greaterthan the area of the design so that the unused foil is necessarilywasted. Further,-especially where designs of considerable area are beingembossed, the foil is of a corresponding- 1y large area and by reason ofits light, flimsy: character is often blown from its position on thesheet as the sheet is inserted between the bed and platen, which againresults in a loss of foil. Furthermore, the

sheets tend to bend as they are inserted between the-bed and platen andare likely to fall downwardly, making it necessary for the operator tosupport first one side, then the other, in order to properly manipulateit into place. This obviously retards the embossing operation and limitsthe out ut of the press to the number of sheets t at the'operator isable to manipulate'into place between the platens. a

To obviate the above disadvantages and objections according to ourinvention, we contemplate the provision of 'an'apparatus wherein thefoil for the embossing operatio is fed between the dies in such a mannerthat a" required area of foil is locatedwith respect to the dies justprior to each embossing operation, so that the operator need only beconcerned with the placing of a sheet for each of said operationswhereby the embossing is done more quickly than formerly.

According to another feature of the invention, we provide means forfeeding the foilin various amounts as may be desiredor required forvarious embossing operations according to the area of the dies employedand are thereby enabled to effect a saving in the embossing material.

A further feature of the invention is the employment of' a press inwhich the bed and platen are disposed substantially in a verticalrelation so that when a sheet is grasped by the operator for insertiontherebetween, it natually of its own weight and according to itscharacteristics tends to fall downwardly between the bed and platen,whereby the operator is enabled to feed such a press for the embossingoperation more rapidly thanwhere one having a horizontal bedand platenis' employed, infact by the practice of our invention, since theoperator is not required to attach the foil to the sheet nortomanipulate the sheet in a particular mannerbecause of difficulty ininserting itin the press, we are able to produce' a number of embossedsheets equal to that produced in an ordinary printing operation. N

Other novel features of the invention will be apparent. from thefollowing description ofthe invention which is illustrated in the format present preferred by means of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side ele'vational view of the In describing the invention,it will be understood that the drawings are intended todiagrannnatically show one preferred embodiment of the invention andthat in the practice thereof many changes may be made in order to adaptthe novel features thereof to various uses.

Referring to the drawings in detail, P represents a press having a bed Band platen p disposed preferably in a vertical relation and relativelymovable towards and away from one another. Any press arranged asdescribed will be suitable for the practice of the invention, and wewill therefore not describe the press in detail, but will only refer tosuch of those elements thereof as are necessary to clearly disclose theinvention.

A drive shaft 6 of the press carries a driving pinion 7 that is indriving engagement with a combined gear and crank 8 which is suitablyconnected to the platen by a connecting rod 9. Various types of pressesmay employ differentmechanisms than that shown, but any press will befound to be suitable providing it has the relatively movable platen andbed and suitable mechanism for operating them.

A die 10 and matrix 11 are carried by the bed and platen and may be ofany area or size depending upon the design employed and according to theprior practice one is heated in any suitable manner such as by anelectrical resistance heating unit or the like.

In the employment of the apparatus, the foil used is of the kindprocurable on the market and usually comprises a strip of material suchas thin paper, one face of which carries various metal foils or pigmentsin a variety of colors. The paper merely acts as a support for the foiland when acted upon by the dies, the foil or pigment is removed from thepaper by the pressing action of the dies and pressed into the sheet. Thestrip may be of various widths but to effect the desired economy ofoperation a width equal to that of the design on the die will preferablybe selected rather than one in excess thereof. 7

The strip of foil S just described is furnished in rolls that arerotatably carried on a non-rotatable shaft 12 which is fixed in brackets13 carried by the bed. Flanges 14: slidable and adjustable along theshaft 12 are arranged to embrace the sides of the rolls and may beadjusted to exert a drag thereagainst so that the strip may bemaintained taut when unwound therefrom by the mechanism new to bedescribed. It will be understood that the rolls may be located along theshaft so that the strip will overlie the die in the proper manner.

An unwinding roll 15 rotatably mounted in brackets 16 fixed to the bedreceives between it and a mating roll 17 the strip S.

These rolls are adapted, when rotated in the proper direction, to unwindthe strip S from its roll and thereby present unused portions of thestrip for the action of the dies.

The free or unwoundend of the strip is taken up or wound by a shaft 20rotatable in bearings 21 fixed to the press. Flanges 22, adjustablealong the shaft, may be adjusted to the width of the strip and toreceive therebetween the free unwound end thereof (see Fig. The shaft 20is rotated by a belt 23 which passes over a pulley 2% on the shaft 6 ofthe press and a pulley 25 on said shaft 20. The belt 23 and pulleys 2stand 25 are arranged so that there will be a certain amount of slippagetherebetween so as not to put a strain on the stri The arran ement ispreferably such as will take up the strip delivered by the rolls 15 and17 and is not intended to exert sufficient pull to cause an unwinding ofthe strip from its roll.

The drum 15 is arranged to unwind the strip in a step-by-step manner andis so actuated by means of the following. A plunger 29 slid-able in abracket 30 is connected to a pawl lever 31 which has a pawl 32 forengaging with a ratchet wheel 88 fixed on the shaft of drum 15.

The plunger rod 29 is raised by the link 9 as its end is rotated in thedirection shown by the arrow for moving the platen towards the bedwhereby the lever 31 is raised to rotate the feed drum.

A coil spring 34 between the bracket 30 and a collar 35 carried by therod 29 exerts a downward pressing action on the rod so that after eachfeeding stroke the rod is returned to its lower position for engagementyvitlh a subsequent upward movement of the in r 9.

A collar 36 adjustable on the plunger rod 29 above the bracket isadapted to limit the downward movement thereof and may be adjusted toposition the lower end of the rod at various elevations with respect tothe link 9 whereby it will be moved by the link various amountsdepending upon the adjustnients. This makes it possible to unwind anyamount of the strip desired and depending upon the size of the die orthe amount of leaf removed in each stroke ofthe press.

In'the operation of the apparatus, the parts are adjusted so that thestrip is fed upwardly in a step-by-step manner so that an unused portionof the strip isv fed between the dies just prior to the closing togetherof the platen and bed. The amount of movement of the strip is preferablyequal to the length of the design or the die so that there will be noappreciable spaces of foil on the strip between the areas wheresuccessive impressions are made.

The operator is only required to feed to the press the sheets to beembossed and the capacity of the press will only be limited 1. Thecombination in an apparatus for embossing a sheet or the like with foil,of vertically disposed bed and platen members and. link mechanism foreffecting a relative movement thereof, dies carried by said bed andplaten, a support for a roll of foil, un-

winding drums cooperating with said sup port for locating said stripover one of said dies, mechanism in the path of said link and operablethereby for actuating said unwinding drums being adjustable towards andaway from said link whereby the drums may be rotated various amounts tounwind various lengths of foil.

2. The combination in an apparatus for embossing a sheet or the like, ofbed and platen members and link mechanism for effecting a relativemovement thereof, dies carrier by said bed and platen, a support for aroll of foil, unwinding drums coopcrating therewith for locating saidstrip over one of said dies and mechanism actuated by said linkmechanism for advancing said strip across said die to present successiveunused portions thereto.

3. The combination in an apparatus for embossing a sheet, of a bed andplaten having cooperating die members, connecting mechanism foretiecting a relative movement of said bed and platen, a support for aroll of foil, unwinding mechanism for engaging said foil to advance itacross the face of one of said die members and mechanism operable bysaid connecting mech' anism to actuate said unwinding mechanism so thatsaid foil is moved across said die in a step by step manner.

4. The combination in an apparatus for embossing a sheet or the likewith foil, of bed and platen members and link mechanism for efi'ecting arelative movement thereof, embossing dies carried by said bed andplaten, a support for a roll of foil carrying material, an unwindingmechanism for engaging a strip of foil carrying material and adapted tocooperate with said support for locating said strip of material over oneof said dies, and means actuated by said link mechanism for operatingsaid unwinding mechanism to move the foil carrying strip across said diein a step by step manner to present successive unused portions of foilthereto.

5. The combination in an apparatus for embossing a sheet or the likewith foil, of bed and platen members and link mechanism for effecting arelative movement thereof, embossing dies carried by said bed andplaten, a support for a roll of foil carrying material, an unwindingmechanism for engaging a strip of foil carrying material and adapted tocooperate with said support for locating said strip of material over oneof said dies, and means actuatedby said link mechanism for operatinmechanism to move the doil carryin strip across said die in a step bystep manner to present successive unused portions of foil thereto, andcooperating take-up rolls for taking up the strip as it emerges from theunwinding mechanism.

In testimony whereof we have affixed our signatures.

HENRY J. TOEPFERT. GEORGE M. PRENTICE.

said unwinding.

